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NEWBURYPORT (CBS) – Swimming is banned at Newburyport beaches this long holiday weekend because of high bacteria counts.

The water is brown in some spots along Plum Island Beach, a week after Tropical Storm Irene rolled through.

Harbormaster Paul Hogg said the dirty water is the result of sewage overflows from the Merrimack River.

“We’ve had fishermen that put their boats in the water, went in, and it does affect the fishing. The fish aren’t really biting as much. A lot of people don’t really wanna come to the water when it looks like this,” said Hogg.